What We Lost in the Reformation

Many of us have already celebrated Reformation Sunday--but October 31 is that actual day that Martin Luther nailed those theses to the Wittenberg door.  He knew that he would get maximum visibility since everyone would be going to church the following day for the Feast of All Saints.

I've spent years thinking and writing about what was gained with the Reformation (for example, this post), but this morning, a different post of mine is up at the Living Lutheran site.  It explores what we lost in the Reformation.  Go here to read it.

Here are some quotes to whet your appetite:

"I wonder: If our religious traditions had paid more attention through the centuries to the female saints and to Mary, could we have arrived at a place of more inclusivity sooner?"

"What did we lose by our Protestant rejection of these special feast days? Most obviously, we lost the opportunity to have more opportunities for festivity, both in our daily lives and our Sundays. But at a deeper level, we lost many opportunities for inspiration from those who have gone before us."

"My exploration of the Celtic saints has led me to an appreciation of a sacramental outlook and a wish that our Lutheran understanding of the idea of sacrament was broader. Ancient Celtic Christians believed not only in the incarnate Jesus of the past but in the incarnate sacredness of everyday life: that every task existed to point us to the creator."

In this morning's post on my creativity blog, I've written more about the Living Lutheran site and my 4 years of writing there.  I've written about feeling off track.

And of course, maybe the idea of a track is flawed.  The work will take the time that the work takes.  I'm loving this post by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, which reminds us that "Whatever gets in the way of the work, is the work."  Her post talks about the work of parenthood and the work of attentive living, but her thoughts also hold true for our creative work and other types of spiritual work.
Here's a quote about yearnings for your Thursday (I will leave the gendered language for God that the author uses):  "I will also never be a Trappist Monk, yet I am able to come to Mepkin on a regular basis and share in this life I find gratifying and rich.  Our deepest desires will be fulfilled, discernment promises, though not always in our time or in ways that we would choose or even imagine.  God hears our prayers, knows our yearning.  He is at work in the world.  We need faith and we need patience, but he will fill the hear that is open to him" (p. 121).